Highway Don't Care & Meant to Be
by Adam's Gurl
Summary: These oneshots are for the "music related fan fiction challenge". My theme for the first one is Tim Mcgraw's "Highway Don't Care", while I used a couple different songs and artists for the second one. Hope you read and review!
1. Highway Don't Care

**A/N, so I hit a bit of a writer's block on my other M7 story, so I decided to write a one-shot in response to the music related fan fiction challenge over in the M7 forum. This story is based on the song "Highway Don't Care", by Tim Mcgraw. I used some points from the music video as well. I have only Nathan and Chris in this story, although I'm sure the other five are lurking in the background somewhere! And regarding the medical stuff, most of it is probably pretty unrealistic, but, hey, it's fiction! Hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

"This is it! I'm not doing this anymore. I can't!" Marcy Stevenson yelled.

"Fine, 'cause I can't either." Chris Larabee turned around and crossed his arms over his aching chest. It always seemed to end like this, leaving only scars and bad memories.

"You're so arrogant and conceited. You never cared about anything but yourself!" Marcy screamed. All the stress from the last couple of weeks had built up to an unbearable amount, and she was letting it out now.

"You say _I'm_ conceited?" Chris turned around again. "How would you explain the way you were acting at the party last night if it wasn't conceited?"

"I-I-I," Stammered Marcy. "You know what? You can just go to hell, 'cause I never want to see you again." Angrily, she grabbed her coat and phone, and ran out the door, leaving Chris standing there, catching flies with his mouth.

She jumped in her car, a grey Chevrolet Cavalier, put it in drive and zoomed off into the twilight.

As she drove with the wind coming through the open window and blowing in her face, Marcy had no choice but to think about what had just happened. She hadn't meant to cuss at Chris or to blow up at him like that, but when she realized she was as much to blame as Chris was, she'd gotten embarrassed, and for her, embarrassment quickly turned into anger.

She was driving close to twenty miles over the speed limit on the almost empty highway, but that was the last thing on her mind.

"It's his fault!" She nearly screamed, trying to make herself feel better about it. "He shouldn't have been so stuck-up, and-and mean!" But the more she tried to convince herself that it was Chris's fault, the guiltier she felt.

She reached for her phone, which was lying on the passenger seat, hoping that Chris had texted her. She growled frustratedly; nothing there.

She put it back and sped up even more. In an effort to stay awake after the many long, sleepless nights and get her attention off of her boyfriend – no, _ex_ -boyfriend – she turned on the radio.

"I can't live without you, I can't live without you baby." The speakers blared.

Marcy was a music lover, but she cringed at the lyrics, as they did the opposite of taking her mind off her break-up; this song described her to a tee. She was going to turn it off but decided to wait for the next song. Instead, she reached for her phone again. Still no texts. Frustrated, she threw it back, not noticing when it slipped off the passenger seat, and onto the floor.

Her heart was screaming at her to turn around, but instead of listening to it, she focused on the part of her that was still feeling hurt and angry and drove on.

She was feeling so miserable and heart-broken and guilty, that she punched the steering wheel in frustration. Her eyes were full of unshed tears, and she did her best to keep them unshed, knowing that once the first tear rolled got out, the floodgates would open, and the tears would cascade down her cheeks.

A deer ran over the road in front of the car, and Marcy almost crashed into it. All the earlier emotions now combined with this shock resulted in tears beginning to stream down her face.

"I can't live without you, I can't live without you baby." Taylor Swift wasn't helping her predicament much; Marcy felt so desperately miserable as tears blurred her vision and she couldn't even turn off the radio when she realized the station wasn't going to play anything else.

She felt like Taylor was right there in her car, singing in her ear.

Trying to block out the music and thoughts of Chris, while doing her best to stay on the road as the light faded and her eyes blurred with tears, her head started hurting and she rubbed it hard, desperately wishing that this was just a nightmare that she would wake up from in a minute.

Marcy had to let it out somehow, so she started singing along to the song. "I can't live without you, I can't live without you baby. I can't live without you, I can't live without you baby, oh baby."

She couldn't help it, she had to check her phone again. But as she reached for it, she couldn't find it. She felt around the whole seat, then risked a glance and noticed it was on the floor.

The words of the song still echoing in her ears, Marcy leaned over to pick it up. Her hand moved the steering wheel to the right without her noticing it.

Luckily, her foot came off the gas pedal when she leaned, which slowed the car before it veered right.

Marcy didn't even hear her frightened scream, as the car went into the ditch, and rolled, before finally coming to a stop. Upside down with Marcy hanging unconscious partway out of the window.

"I can't live without you, baby." Came from the speakers one last time.

* * *

At the hospital, Doctor Nathan Jackson hurried to help wheel in the stretcher which held the young woman who'd just arrived in a STARS helicopter.

Her neck was in a brace, and she was tied to the stretcher, so as to keep her from moving and making broken bones worse. She had an oxygen mask over her bloody face, and Doctor Jackson's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her more closely.

"Nurse!" He yelled to a nurse standing nearby.

"Yes, doctor?" She came running.

"Get somebody to call Chris Larabee." Dr. Jackson continued to give the nurse his number, which she wrote down on a paper pad. "Tell her about this young lady; he's the only family she has." He figured that if it got them to get Chris there faster, he might as well stretch the truth a little. Marcy really didn't have any family, and Chris being her boyfriend was the next closest thing.

Half an hour later, Chris came running into the hospital. He lived out of town, and it had been hard for him to stay only a little over the speed limit as he hurried to get to the hospital.

Now, his face tight with worry, he asked where Marcy was and was directed to her room. After a long period of arguing with the nurse, who only wanted immediate family to see Marcy, Dr. Jackson came along and allowed Chris to enter.

With a little choking sound in his throat, Chris rushed to Marcy's side.

"Marcy." He whispered as he knelt beside the bed. She was on IV, she wore a cervical collar to keep her neck straight, and both her legs and her right arm were in temporary braces to keep them straight until the doctors could set them and fix any shattered bones. A heart monitor peeped relatively steady beside her.

"She's in a coma, Chris." Dr. Jackson's voice was right beside him. "She can't hear you right now."

Chris stayed silent, not acknowledging Nathan's presence as he kept staring at Marcy's pale face behind the oxygen mask.

"Chris, we're taking her to surgery now. She has internal bleeding close to her brain. You have to wait outside." Nathan said quietly. He helped his friend to his feet and led the man outside. Then he seated Chris on a bench right outside the room. "You can see her again after the surgery."

The man in black, usually so independent and strong looked like he would keel over any moment, and seemed oblivious to Nathan's presence. Obviously, he was in shock.

Nathan sighed and returned to the task at hand.

Four hours later, Chris was pacing outside the surgery room. A nurse had brought him a glass of water, and he was back in the land of the living, so to speak.

The door opened, and Chris jumped forward as a tired looking Nathan stepped out, followed by another doctor and two nurses, while another two nurses stayed in the room, cleaning up.

"How is she?" Chris asked quickly.

"She's stable. Once the anaesthesia wears off, she should wake up." Nathan said, leaning against the wall.

"Can I see her now?"

Nathan smiled tiredly. "Just give the nurses time to bring her back to her own room."

Chris nodded and started pacing again.

Half an hour later, Marcy was settled in her room again. Chris sat down on a chair beside her bed, waiting for her to wake up while talking to her in soothing tones.

Finally, Marcy's eyes began to flutter, and the peeping of the heart monitor became stronger and steadier.

Chris abandoned the chair to kneel beside her bed again. He carefully took her hand and held it in his own.

Marcy moved her head as much as the brace would allow her to, and finally, albeit slowly, opened her eyes.

"Oh, Marcy!" Chris whispered, tears running down his face. "Marcy, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have acted like that. It's all my fault."

Marcy smiled a little, her eyes warm as she stared into Chris's eyes. She shook her head a little bit at what he was saying and squeezed his hand.

Then she fell back a little and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds as if that little bit of moving had exhausted her.

"Marcy, I promise I'm never going to let you leave again. I love you. Nothing is ever going to come between us ever again, you hear?" Chris said softly, no sternness evident in that last bit; only sincerity.

Marcy smiled again with both her eyes and mouth, then slowly closed her eyes and fell into a calm sleep.

Chris rocked back on his heels, never letting go of Marcy's hand. He meant what he said, and the fact that she'd been able to smile and squeeze his hand, showed that she felt the same.

For the first time in a while, Chris felt relaxed and so overwhelmingly happy.

 _This would work out._


	2. Kasandra and Vin - Meant to Be

**AN** _This a one-shot, I got the idea from a "_ music related _fan fiction challenge" that I entered. Something that I have to put out there, is that these "hockey championships" are made up. As the name of the website states, this is Fan **Fiction**._

 _Hope you enjoy, and maybe you can give a hungry author some reviews? ;-)_

* * *

Kasandra Garcia sat down in the little cafe with a sigh. It was evening, and the light was low, giving the little room a mysterious glow. After everything that had happened that day she was tired. Just plain tired. She felt like hiding in her bed at home and letting all the stress and troubles of the day disappear as she slipped off into dreamland. That wasn't possible though because Home was close to a thousand kilometres away.

Her hockey team had travelled to Kamloops, British Columbia, for the junior championship.

She loved hockey, and, in normal circumstances, would have been focusing wholly on the upcoming game, but right now she had a problem. A big one. And it came in the shape of Vin Tanner, who went to the high school in the town Kasandra lived in and was captain of the boy's hockey team.

The boy's hockey championship was only a day after the girls', in the same place, so the two teams from Leduc, Alberta, travelled together.

The first time Kasandra had seen Vin, she'd gotten this unmistakably fluttery feeling in her stomach, and she'd turned into the awkward, stammering pre-teen she'd been a few years before. There was something about him, that she just couldn't place, and she knew she'd have to find out more about him. The only problem with that plan was that for one thing, she couldn't work up the courage to approach him and introduce herself, and she had a feeling she wouldn't know what to say after the usual pleasantries had been exchanged.

They had gotten to the hotel that both teams were staying in a few days before, and so had time to practice on a rink that been rented beforehand. For the most part, both teams practised at the same time, which gave Kasandra an opportunity to talk to Vin. For two days, she'd kinda avoided him for fear of saying the wrong thing; instead, watching him, trying to get his personality figured out. He kept his teammates going towards the end goal of winning the championship, while at the same time being understanding and kind, and he was always smiling. Another thing Kasandra had noticed, was that he was outgoing around his friends, while he seemed almost shy around other people, which was something she could totally relate to.

After a while of deep breaths, Kasandra had finally bit the bullet and introduced herself. From the first moment, there was an identifiable spark between them, and over the course of the days before the big game, the two of them had gotten closer and closer. Then Kasandra's doubts started growing. All this seemed too good to last long, and she kept telling herself that there were a lot of things that separated them. Actually, when she thought about it a little more, age was the only thing. Kasandra's fourteenth birthday was coming up, while Vin was eighteen.

Kasandra let out a groan/sigh, and put her head down on the little table, feeling drained of energy just from thinking about the situation so much.

All of a sudden, a PA system crackled to life, and a woman's voice announced "Karaoke Friday".

A girl twenty-something years old took the mic and sang Kelly Clarkson's, "Stronger". She was pretty good, and Kasandra's applauding, in the end, was genuine. Nobody else wanted to sing, though, and there was a long silence.

One of Kasandra's many hobbies was singing, but singing in public wasn't one of the things she did best. Then she realized that singing would probably be a good way get it all out, and so she got up and climbed onto the makeshift stage.

She told the DJ her song choice and took the offered mic.

Kasandra took a deep breath as the first notes of "Wrecking Ball" came out of the loudspeakers. She raised the mic, and started singing:

"We clawed, we chained, our hearts in vain

We jumped, never asking why..."

As she got closer to the chorus, her confidence rose at the rapt attention the audience was giving her, and when the chorus came:

"I came in like a wrecking ball

I never hit so hard in love

All I wanted..."

She hit every note right, and a few whistles were heard from the audience.

When the song was finished, a couple people were yelling for an encore, and Kasandra looked back to raise a questioning eyebrow at the hostess. The hostess nodded, smiling, and Kasandra turned back to the DJ to tell him her next song choice. The DJ was talking to somebody who's face Kasandra couldn't see, and all of a sudden the tell-tale first notes of "What Ifs" - Kane Brown were heard.

The guy who'd been talking to the DJ turned, mic in hand, and Kasandra caught her breath when she looked into Vin's face. He had come in while she was singing, and Kasandra hadn't noticed.

Vin grinned and swept his long hair out of his face as he joined her on the makeshift stage.

"You say what if I hurt you, what if I leave you

What if I find somebody else and I don't need you

What if this goes south..."

His deep voice mesmerized Kasandra and she just stared at Vin while the audience whooped and cheered.

By the time he got to the chorus, Kasandra was back on track again, joining him in beautiful harmony.

"What if I was made for you and you were made for me

What if this is it, what if it's meant to be..."

"What if the sky falls..." They continued, Kasandra staring into Vin's eyes a little uncertainly.

"Or I could kiss you"

"You should kiss me" Kasandra took the role of backup singer.

"What if you liked it"

"Bet I'd like it" Kasandra grinned suddenly, as she realized she meant what she was singing. Vin sure had made a good song choice!

"Well, we ain't never gonna know unless we try it" Vin leaned in brushed his lips gently against Kasandra's, resulting in them missing the next line.

"What if this is it, what if it's meant to be..."

They finished the song together, and the small audience cheered loudly.

The hostess walked over to them. "Please, sing another song. You two are the biggest hit we've ever had in our little cafe!"

Kasandra and Vin looked at each other, smiles growing on their faces, before they turned back to the hostess, and accepted.

Kasandra leaned closer to Vin. "Lady Antebellum – 'Need You Now'?"

"Perfect choice." Vin winked and turned to tell the DJ.

"Picture perfect memories,

Scattered all around the floor,

Reaching for the phone..." Kasandra started.

The song was a big hit, and their harmony earned whistles and cheers from the growing audience. It seemed other people had been told about the performance, and more and more of them were coming to listen.

As the last notes died away, Vin and Kasandra smiled at each other, and said in unison, "Perfect!"

The DJ immediately caught on to it and turned on the karaoke version for Ed Sheeran and Beyonce's collaboration on "Perfect".

It was beautiful, Kasandra's favourite phrases being, "'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love" and "We are still kids, but we're so in love, fighting against all odds" because they were true to the two of them, as well.

"Can you play Taylor Swift – 'Love Story'?" Kasandra asked the DJ.

"Of course." He smiled and turned it up.

"We were both young when I first saw you..." Kasandra knew the song by heart, so she didn't have to glance at the lyrics on the screen, even once.

"...Begging you, please, don't go..." She sang this line to Vin in a heartfelt voice. Vin smiled gently.

When the last line came, Kasandra sang it with her best impression of TS.

After that song, she sang One Direction - "18", singing "I have loved you since you were 18", instead of "since we were 18".

Vin joined her on stage again for an epic performance of "Meant to Be" - Florida Georgia Line, ft. Bebe Rhexa that got the audience cheering on their feet.

They blew lots of kisses and bowed to the audience, Harry Styles style (noticed that?), and jumped off the stage to sit down at a small table in the corner.

"Whew!" Kasandra said, a little out of breath.

"That was beautiful, Kasandra!" Vin complemented her.

Kasandra blushed a little and looked down. "You weren't that bad yourself, Vin. I didn't know you could sing."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, and we have all the time in the world to get to know each other better."

"Yeah, you're right," Kasandra said quietly, sipping one of the two free lattes they had received.

Vin chuckled suddenly. "You know, I daresay we could get a whole meal with all the trimmings, free, right now."

"Yeah, the hostess said we were the biggest hits they'd ever had here," Kasandra said.

"You excited for the big game tomorrow?" Vin asked, reminding Kasandra of Tournament Day.

"You know, it's funny. Before, I was so dang nervous, about... well, the game, and, uh... us, I probably couldn't have even skated out on the rink, but now... I'm mostly excited! I'm a little nervous, but it's not the scared type of nervous I was before; it's more an excited nervousness. I guess singing really relaxed me or something." Kasandra grinned a little.

"Yeah, it's the same for me." Vin chuckled at Kasandra's surprised expression. "What? Didn't you think I was nervous about the game and us too?"

"I dunno; I guess I just didn't think about it from your point of view." Kasandra shrugged.

"Anyway, I've watched your team practising; I'd say you have a really good chance of winning gold."

"Really?"

"Really." Vin smiled.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. I was actually thinking the same about your team." Kasandra said earnestly.

"Thank you." Vin moved into the seat beside Kasandra and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

They sat for a couple minutes in comfortable silence, sipping their lattes, and just enjoying each others company.

"Well," Vin said finally, after a while of just watching other karaoke performers. "I suppose we oughta get back to the hotel."

"Yeah." Kasandra agreed. "What time is it anyway?"

"Uh, lemme see." Vin pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Shoot! It's ten thirty! Curfew was _nine_ thirty."

"Oops." They jumped up and hurried out of the cafe.

As they were about to part ways in the hotel, Vin suddenly grabbed Kasandra's hands. "Good luck tomorrow." He said, his eyes saying so much more.

"You too, Vin. I'll be rooting for you!" Kasandra smiled softly.

Vin hesitated a moment, then kissed her gently, and hurried to his room, leaving Kasandra standing in front of the room she shared with her best friend – who was also one of her teammates – a dreamy smile on her face.  
All was going to be just fine... She felt it in her bones.


End file.
